Adults who spend at least two-and-a-half hours a day scrolling social media may face a higher risk of depression, according to a new study published in ‘npj Mental Health Research’.
Researchers analysed more than 183,000 surveys of adults aged 18 to 70 collected over 11 years, from 2014 onward, examining media habits and their relationship with mental health.
The study found that spending at least 150 minutes daily on social media was consistently associated with self-reported depression across all 11 years examined.
Researchers also found that social media became an increasingly stronger predictor of depression over time, compared with factors such as employment, education, television viewing, video gaming and general internet use.
Senior researcher Hans Breiter of the University of Cincinnati described the findings as “a damning picture,” warning that social media can be harmful to people across different stages of life.
Please follow and like us:
